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The Luzerne County Transportation Authority is installing computer systems on buses that count when passengers get on and off buses.

The automatic passenger counters should be fully operational by the end of June and could help end the "ghost rider" controversy involving the accuracy of ridership totals. The system will also provide detailed reports that will be used to help eliminate unnecessary routes and stops, said Joe Roselle, the authority's information technology director.

The authority's board agreed to buy the system from Toronto-based Strategic Mapping Inc. for more than $600,000 in March 2011 - 16 months before the "ghost rider" controversy erupted.

County Councilman Edward Brominski and authority board member Patrick Conway alleged in July that drivers were counting "ghost riders" to increase state funding. Since then, senior ridership has plummeted from 71,754 in June 2012 to 22,101 last April.

Each senior rider counted results in about 30 cents in funds for the authority from the state lottery system. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has launched an investigation into the massive decrease in senior riders.

The number of senior riders can be manipulated because they don't pay fares and drivers manually record when a senior boards a bus by showing either a senior transit identification card or Medicare card.

Other riders buy student passes, swipe cards for a paid amount of rides or pay fares with cash.

At last Tuesday's authority board meeting, authority Executive Director Stanley Strelish offered the first official explanation of the massive drop in senior riders - bus drivers were miscounting, doubling and triple counting seniors at times.

Management met with drivers April 5 to stress the importance of accurate counts and informed drivers of upcoming training sessions, Strelish said.

"It is LCTA's job to properly train its drivers, so LCTA, not the drivers, bears the responsibility for any inappropriate training," leaders of the authority's employee union said in a statement.

The leaders of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 164 said they support "efforts to ensure the accuracy of its recordkeeping through improved training and technology, and we look forward to working in cooperation with LCTA and PennDOT to make that happen."

The new passenger-count system won't distinguish senior riders from others. It will count any passenger who enters under an infrared beam.

But because the fare box and swipe cards accurately count all riders other than senior riders, the automatic passenger counters will be a way to help determine if manually counted totals of senior riders are accurate, Strelish explained. PennDOT could decide in the future to issue swipe cards to seniors, but the authority can't issue cards to seniors on its own, Strelish said.

Authority fare revenue has remained relatively constant over the last year. It was $52,909 in April 2012 and $55,855 last April.

The automatic passenger counters are part of a larger system, called the automatic vehicle location system, or AVL system.

It will automatically determine the geographic location of buses and transmit information the authority's dispatch center. Riders can see where buses are on smartphones or computers, or they can find out where buses are with a phone call, Roselle said.

The AVL system is expected to reduce calls from riders to authority personnel, Roselle said. Authority buses are equipped with antennas, and the AVL system is similar to a Global Positioning System.

The AVL system has computerized display sign for riders to see upcoming bus stops, and voice announced bus stops for riders to hears.

mbuffer@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2073

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